Magnetosurgery: Principles, design, and applications

Abstract

Magnetosurgery, the guidance or actuation of surgical instruments during operations using magnetic forces, has become a global trend in minimally invasive surgeries performed remotely. Despite the promise of the magnetosurgery platform, only select surgeries are compatible with this technology, and issues related to the engineering, materials used, and applications are still not fully understood. In this review, we focus on the engineering and material basis of magnetosurgery in order to summarize and expand existing knowledge to create a versatile platform with multiple surgical applications.